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shadowkat[Note, I'm home sick or under the weather at the moment, so apologies for typos, etc - due to brain fog.]
As always, Good News is more often than not in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary.
1. 13.14 Million or 4% of the population of the US came out and protested for "No Kings". "We’re honored to announce a final count of 13.14 million in attendance across 2,300+ No Kings protests nationwide. It took a little longer to finalize due to the sheer scale, but the turnout was historic!
So far, 71 MAGA agitators have been arrested, with 62 additional investigations still underway. We’re actively reviewing online threats and working on escalating where needed. If you see something, say something." - per Alt National Parks.
What does this mean: The 3.5% Rule or How a small minority can change the world
"Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
In 1986, millions of Filipinos took to the streets of Manila in peaceful protest and prayer in the People Power movement. The Marcos regime folded on the fourth day.
In 2003, the people of Georgia ousted Eduard Shevardnadze through the bloodless Rose Revolution, in which protestors stormed the parliament building holding the flowers in their hands. While in 2019, the presidents of Sudan and Algeria both announced they would step aside after decades in office, thanks to peaceful campaigns of resistance."
Also keep in mind, that a lot of folks, like myself, who couldn't go out and protest by marching, are protesting and resisting in other ways. So it is far more than 4%.
And in direct contrast, only 8,900 showed up for the big military parade, and even the military was unenthused, shuffled along, and didn't march in step, silently protesting their dislike and discomfort with the proceedings. No one was happy with the parade.
2. 81% of U.S. adults say that if a federal court rules that an action is illegal, then Trump has to follow its ruling, per NBC poll. Among Trump supporters, 50% agree.
3. From limiting who can purchase most semiautomatic rifles on the market today to raising the minimum age to buy ammunition, Colorado Democrats in the Colorado legislature were busy this year imposing new gun regulations - specifically in the state of Colorado.
The 12 gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature this year and signed into law
4. Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of committing a sex crime by a jury in New York, more than a year after the state Supreme Court overturned his 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges. A jury of seven women and five men on Wednesday found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sexual act. The jury acquitted him on a second count of first-degree criminal sexual act, and it did not reach a unanimous verdict on a count of third-degree rape.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/harvey-weinstein-guilty-retrial-sex-crime-new-york-rcna202460
5.The House approves four nominees to the governing board of the Office of Congressional Conduct, providing the board with enough members to operate and continue its role of investigating and uncovering misconduct by Congress members.
https://campaignlegal.org/update/win-ethics-clc-partners-succeed-preserving-office-congressional-conduct
6.Library of Congress employees uphold the Constitution’s separation of powers by not admitting two DOJ officials appointed by the president to lead the agency who have not been confirmed by the Senate.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/library-of-congress-trump-justice-blanche?bt_ee=2QgjkqKxaHyuagkHOeb0m6RbI2h%2FZ9394%2B4e4zEovFoF9q%2BF2LTnhSUP%2BuXHEzeX&bt_ts=1747140898649
7.A federal court orders the administration to promptly facilitate contact between Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino and his lawyers after immigration enforcement illegally deported Sanguino to a notoriously abusive prison in El Salvador.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/venezuelan-man-admitted-us-refugee-sent-salvadoran-prison-rcna207642
8.Six weeks after being seized off the streets and detained under a false claim by DHS, doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk is released from ICE detention to resume her studies and live in the community while attorneys seek reinstatement of her visa.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-bail-release
9. Attorneys general from 20 states file two lawsuits against the administration over its threats to illegally withhold billions of congressionally allocated funds from states if they don’t meet federal immigration enforcement demands.
https://thehill.com/homenews/5298257-20-states-sue-trump-administration-grants-immigration-enforcement/
10. Colorado becomes the ninth state to pass a state-level Voting Rights Act into law.
https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/05/12/polis-signs-voting-rights-act-colorado/
11.Florida: A bill that would have required proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote fails to advance in the legislature.
https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/08/the-failed-florida-election-bill-that-angered-voting-rights-and-voting-integrity-advocates-alike/
12. The prejudices underpinning sex-selective abortion appear to have ebbed, even if they have not disappeared. Meanwhile, a preference for girls is emerging, especially in rich countries. [Why?: In 2000 an estimated 1.6m baby girls were “missing”, if you compare the sex ratio at birth with what would occur naturally; this year that number is expected to be 200,000. In much of Asia, the spread of ultrasound scans and a strong traditional preference for baby boys resulted in the widespread termination of girls. This led, years later, to a big surplus of young men who could not get married. The glut of frustrated bachelors was socially destabilising, leading to an increase in violent crime.]
13. The US Supreme Court declined to take up two appeals, from Maryland and Rhode Island, that could have had bad ramifications for the gun violence prevention movement.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-gun-control-challenges/
14. Protesters by the thousands marched through Chicago last Tuesday, stopping traffic in the downtown Loop and chanting anti-Trump slogans as they denounced immigration raids in Los Angeles, Chicago and other Cities.
15.The Utah Legislature’s own newly released study found that gender-affirming care benefits trans youth. The study was commissioned under the state’s 2023 law that prohibited gender-affirming care for minors — and the findings completely contradict the basis of that law.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2025/05/22/utah-lawmakers-own-study-found/
16. Trump’s private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. was hit with a remarkable 18 health code violations, nine of them considered “critical.” (Lowest Score in the County)
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/06/04/trump-bedminster-golf-club-health-code-violations/?lctg=27193028
17. At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/law-firms-trump-deals-clients-71b3616d?lctg=27193028
18. High school students in Milford, MA, staged a massive walkout protesting ICE’s arrest of student Marcelo Gomes da Silva.
"Students at Massachusetts’s Milford high school staged a walkout on Monday to show support for their classmate Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who was headed to volleyball practice when he was detained over the weekend by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents who were actually looking for his father."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/03/boston-student-protest-ice-arrest-marcelo-gomes-da-silva
19.After more than a month in jail, a waitress in a small Missouri town who immigrated from Hong Kong 20 years ago was released by ICE. Carol’s arrest rattled her conservative community, which came together to call for her release.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/us/politics/carol-missouri-migrant.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Mk8.moJG.C4HgG0QLvnvK&smid=url-share&sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40
20.A Guatemalan man who was wrongly deported to Mexico was permitted to reenter the United States, marking the first known instance of the Trump administration returning a deportee in response to a judicial order.
https://archive.ph/DZgUt#selection-329.0-333.199
21.Damian Williams, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is leaving the law firm Paul Weiss to join Jenner & Block, defecting from a firm that struck a deal with the Trump administration to sign on with one that fought it in court.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-manhattan-us-attorney-williams-leaves-law-firm-paul-weiss-2025-06-06/
22.Workers in Pittsburgh, PA, Richmond, VA, and Albuquerque, NM, voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. These wins bring their movement to over 600 union victories since December 2021.
23.49ers superstar Brock Purdy donates entire $25 million bonus and sponsorship deal to charities and homeless relief organizations. “There are millions of people struggling every day — families without homes, kids without food, veterans without support,” Brock Purdy said.
24. The LAUSD police force is protecting Angelenos from the feds. Los Angeles school police set up a safety perimeter around campuses and school events — including graduations — to keep federal immigration agents away from students, employees and families, starting last Monday.
25.CDC Reinstates Hundreds of Fired Employees: The rehired staff, who number around 460, work with the CDC’s viral disease prevention efforts and sexual health testing labs, among others. The reinstatements are a ray of light in an acrimonious week that also saw protests and the complete overhaul of the agency’s vaccine advisory committee. - The CDC reinstated some 460 employees who had previously been laid off, according to reporting from The Associated Press, citing a union representing the workers.
Some 200 of the rehired employees belonged to the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, as per the AP, while staff at labs that test for sexually transmitted disease have also been reinstated. Meanwhile, around 150 employees at the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health have also returned to the agency. - This is not the first time HHS has walked back on its massive layoffs. On Monday, for instance, the FDA reinstalled its generic drug policy office after previously clearing the team out. Since Kennedy’s reorganization sweep in March, the FDA has also brought back dozens of fired employees, some of whom were involved in making travel arrangements for inspectors and in negotiating the regulator’s user fee programs.
https://www.biospace.com/policy/amid-acip-shake-up-cdc-reinstates-hundreds-of-fired-employees
26. They had to hire extra security around Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen, because Scottish men kept breaking in and shitting in the holes.
27. A major motion was granted in the case of Kilmer Abrego Garcia that allows the wrongfully deported man’s legal team to sanction the US Department of Justice over its abuse of confidentiality orders and for withholding unredacted materials from the court. Also, he’s back in the U.S.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/#entry-179
28.The International Energy Agency predicts global investment in clean energy will reach $2.2 trillion this year, marking another record high.
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2025/executive-summary?_hsmi=365145678
29.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) sued Alina Habba, U.S. attorney for New Jersey and a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, for false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation stemming from his arrest for protesting the Trump administration's deportation policies.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/newark-mayor-ras-baraka-sues-trump-lawyer-alina-habba-arrest/?_hsmi=364724510
30.The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma announced that the city has approved $105 million in reparations for the infamous Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/03/tulsa-mayor-reparations-race-massacre/
31. A judge ordered the government to allow Venezuelan men who were removed from the U.S. earlier this year to challenge their ongoing imprisonment in El Salvador.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-administration-must-allow-alien-enemies-act-challenges-judge-says/?_hsmi=365303132
32. South Korean politician Lee Jae-myung, a left-leaning candidate, won the country’s presidential election.
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/south-korean-left-leaning-candidate-poised-to-win-presidential-election-25eda8e9?mod=hp_lead_pos9
33. Wisconsin’s first large-scale, solar-powered battery storage project is operational and can power more than 130,000 homes for up to four hours.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2025/06/03/wisconsins-first-large-scale-energy-storage-system-has-12000-batteries/83997871007/?_hsmi=364595509
34. A coalition of immigrants rights organizations and criminal defense lawyers sued the Trump administration to block the government from paying El Salvador to imprison the hundreds of removed Venezuelan migrants.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/immigration-groups-sue-trump-administration-el-salvador-payments-imprison-migrants/?_hsmi=365303132
35.A Santa Barbara, CA judge granted a temporary restraining order to stop Sable Offshore’s dangerous pipeline restart — the same corroded pipeline that spilled 450,000 gallons of oil into Chumash waters 10 years ago.
https://www.noozhawk.com/judge-issues-temporary-restraining-order-against-restart-of-sables-santa-barbara-oil-pipelines/#:~:text=A%20Santa%20Barbara%20Superior%20Court,the%202015%20Refugio%20Oil%20Spill
36. The FCC's lone Democratic Commissioner is challenging the weaponization of her agency.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-fcc-commissioner-sounds-the-alarm-plus-the/id73330715?i=1000710579661
37.Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/05/hawaii-bill-tax-hotel-tourist-green-fee?CMP=greenlight_email&ref=climativity.com
"The bill passed on Friday adds a 0.75% levy to the state’s existing tax on hotel rooms, timeshares, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations. It also imposes a new 11% tax on cruise ship bills, prorated for the number of days the vessels are in Hawaii ports.
Officials estimate the tax will generate nearly $100m annually. They say the money will be used for projects like replenishing sand on eroding Waikiki beaches, promoting the use of hurricane clips to secure roofs during powerful storms and clearing flammable invasive grasses like those that fed the deadly wildfire that destroyed downtown Lahaina in 2023."
38. A new AI-powered internal tool that aims to streamline U.S. EPA practices is highlighting the importance of climate action, contradicting the agency’s current direction.
"EPA has a new generative artificial intelligence tool. And it believes climate change is dangerous.
That puts it at odds with the Trump administration, which aims to sideline climate change research and data to make it easier to repeal regulations. "
[The Trump Administration is losing, folks, because they can't control the narrative.]
https://www.eenews.net/articles/epas-new-ai-tool-disagrees-with-zeldin-on-climate-change/?_hsmi=365406387
39. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced new climate standards for pension fund asset managers, including clear net-zero goals that decrease their scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-04-22_NYC-Comptrollers-Office_Net-Zero-Implementation-v2-1-1.pdf
40.The largest land back deal in California history is returning 17,000 acres around the Klamath to the Yurok, the final parcel of a nearly 50,000-acre land transfer.
https://grist.org/indigenous/in-californias-largest-landback-deal-the-yurok-tribe-reclaims-sacred-land-around-the-klamath-river/
41. Democrat Keishan Scott defeated his Republican rival in a landslide win for a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Scott, who is 24, secured over 70% of the votes cast in a special election.
https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-achieve-landslide-election-win-south-carolina-2080667
42.Democrats had a strong night in Mississippi, flipping several seats from red to blue. They even defeated a few incumbent Republican mayors.
https://magnoliatribune.com/2025/06/05/democrats-celebrate-major-victories-in-mississippi-municipal-elections-republicans-say-they-are-still-winning-the-war/
43.Two of the parties behind an AI-generated robocall that imitated then-President Joe Biden and warned residents not to vote in the New Hampshire Democratic primary have agreed to settle a civil lawsuit brought by voting groups.
" The defendants will increase reporting on spoofing, create a compliance team or AI and conduct regular training for staff on how to identify deceptive messages and the dangers of misinformation in U.S. elections. "
https://cyberscoop.com/biden-ai-robocall-league-of-women-voters-lawsuit-life-corporation-voice-broadcasting/
44. After massive public backlash, high schooler Marcelo Gomes da Silva was granted bond and released from an ICE detention facility.
https://apnews.com/article/marcelo-gomes-ice-massachusetts-arrest-volleyball-1356302a723f6f5b0a95028754f7291e
45. Two prominent former Republicans—Joe Walsh and David Jolly— have joined the Democratic party. Jolly is running for Florida governor as well.
https://apnews.com/article/david-jolly-governor-race-florida-democrat-trump-86ac06034e76481a3b6c204af75b7300?link_source=ta_thread_link&taid=68416166ed07b900019f42cb
https://socialcontractwithjoewalsh.substack.com/p/from-the-tea-party-to-the-democratic?r=4csydt&triedRedirect=true
46.A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore AmeriCorps-funded programs in Washington, D.C., and 24 Democratic-led states as their lawsuit proceeds over recent cuts.
https://mcusercontent.com/cc1fad182b6d6f8b1e352e206/files/9b38f099-80e9-63f4-b116-07cc12a438de/060525_AmeriCorps_PI_Order.pdf
47. Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Under Secretary of the Air Force under Joe Biden, won the mayoral race in San Antonio, TX. She beat Republican Rolando Pablos, a former secretary of state who ran with (lots of) support from Governor Greg Abbott.
48.A federal judge said the U.S. Bureau of Prisons must keep providing gender-affirming care to transgender people who are incarcerated.
49.The family of a 4-year-old Bakersfield girl with a rare medical condition has been granted humanitarian protection from deportation, allowing her to continue receiving lifesaving treatment in the United States.
https://archive.ph/yrcBj
50.The LA County Public Library is expanding free, in-person tutoring for elementary school students to 45 locations this summer.
https://laist.com/news/education/summer-reading-program-2025-los-angeles-public-library?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40
51. Ukraine launched a “large-scale” drone attack against Russian military bombers in Siberia and struck more than 40 warplanes thousands of miles from its own territory. MAN does it feel good to see Ukraine score a win!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/01/ukraine-launches-major-drone-attack-on-russian-bombers-security-official-says
52. Striking workers in Washington state will qualify for unemployment benefits starting next year, making it the third state to provide such benefits to workers on strike.
"Farmers score a win against climate censorship, striking workers get help, courts defend public schools, and paradise is protected."
https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-climate-data-is-unscrubbed/
53.Harvard is offering free courses on US history, civic engagement, and politics
https://pll.harvard.edu/subject/government
54.Massachusetts-based Boston Metal is on the verge of earning its first revenue as it continues honing a novel steelmaking process so clean it can vent emissions into a parking lot the company shares with a day care center.
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/green-steel/boston-metal-decarbonization-technology?amp%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=canary&_hsmi=365145678
55. Following months of protests, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law, unanimously passed by state lawmakers, preventing any development projects on the state’s protected lands.
"The State Park Preservation Act will protect all 175 of the state parks by preventing developers from building golf courses, hotels or other commercial projects on state park land."
https://www.wfla.com/news/floridas-state-parks-are-now-protected-from-developments-after-gov-desantis-signs-new-law/
56.For the first time, a wrongful death case was brought against fossil fuel companies for their alleged role in global warming, causing a heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, where a woman died from overheating.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/climate/oil-companies-wrongful-death-lawsuit-heat-dome.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K08.NKgZ.tzj0mbirjgtj&smid=url-share
57.Judges are ruling against Trump at an accelerating pace, with the monthly percentage of losses by Trump from February to May trending upward: 53%, 74%, 76%, and 96%.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-growing-judicial-resistance-to
58.An animal rescue nonprofit in Houston, TX transforms sheds into “mutternity suites” for stray pregnant dogs in need of a safe place to give birth.
https://people.com/rescue-transforms-sheds-into-mutternity-suites-for-pregnant-stray-dogs-exclusive-11729519
59. Since January, the New Georgia Project helped to register 10,000 Georgians to vote.
https://www.threads.com/@newgeorgiaproject/post/DJpHyzIO9cJ
60.Greyhound upholds the rights of their passengers by not permitting warrantless immigration enforcement activities on their buslines or at their stations.
https://www.greyhound.com/warrantless-bus-searches
61.Pittsburgh’s airport builds a field of solar panels in a former 12-acre landfill, boosting its own renewable energy and that of nearby homes and businesses.
https://electrek.co/2025/04/30/pittsburgh-airport-landfill-solar/
62.New York City temporarily changes its affordable housing lottery system to immediately place unhoused people and families in readily available apartments.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-has-a-plan-to-fill-empty-affordable-apartments-at-least-for-now
63. Decatur, GA creates a reparations task force to provide policy recommendations to address how racial injustice has historically, financially, and systematically harmed Black residents.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/city-in-metro-atlanta-approves-reparations-task-force-with-apology-to-black-residents/
64. North Carolina: Justice Allison Riggs’s reelection to the state Supreme Court is finally certified six months after her win, following a federal court order blocking the losing candidate’s unfounded efforts to overturn the will of the electorate.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/its-over-republican-jefferson-griffin-concedes-in-north-carolina-supreme-court-race/
65. A MT court strikes down a ban on gender-affirmative healthcare for transgender youth, finding that the ban violated the state constitution.
https://lambdalegal.org/newsroom/cross_mt_20250513_court-strikes-down-ban-on-healthcare-for-trans-youth/
66.Maine: Following a lawsuit brought by the state, the presidential administration halts their efforts to freeze USDA funds in retaliation for Maine’s supportive, gender-inclusive student sports policy.
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-administration-settles-maine-funding-freeze-dispute-trans-athlet-rcna204541
67.Maryland will fund a program to pay for abortions regardless of a patient’s insurance coverage.
https://thegrio.com/2025/05/15/maryland-gov-wes-moore-signs-bill-to-tap-unused-aca-insurance-funds-for-abortion-grant-program/
68.Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem took down her list of “sanctuary cities” she said weren’t cooperating with federal immigration authorities after the National Sheriffs’ Association demanded an apology.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/sanctuary-cities-dhs-list-kristi-noem-remove-b2761985.html
69.Realizing the illegality, and the effect it would have losing him voters, Trump's U.S. Department of Education is pausing its plan to garnish people’s Social Security benefits if they have defaulted on their student loans.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/02/trump-pauses-social-security-benefit-cuts-over-defaulted-student-loans.html
70. THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES HAS FILED AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN THE NEWSOM V. TRUMP CASE. An Amicus Curiae brief is a "friend of the court" brief filed by organizations (and even sometimes individuals) who are *not* parties to the case, but who have knowledge and expertise that may help to inform the court about the case. One has to request the permission of the court in order to file an Amicus brief.
No, it is not rare for a City to file an amicus brief in defense of the State's governor in regards to a Federal action that it deems inappropriate. But it's not really happened for about 100 years.
71."For the reasons stated in its hearing on June 13, 2025, the Court finds that actions to be taken pursuant to the State Department's reorganization plans first announced publicly on April 22, 2025 and later provided to Congress are prohibited by the Court's injunctive relief, as are all final separations scheduled in the State Departments Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference program. If the State Department has any question about whether planned actions fall within the scope of the Court's injunction, the Court ORDERS the Department to first raise those questions with the Court before taking action."
[ie. The Trump Administration and Project 2025 framers are running up against the US Constitution, and the system of Checks and Balances, along with a firm tradition of State's rights.]
72. Summary Judgment was found for the Plantiffs - basically they can't fire the three commissioners or anyone from the Consumer Production Safety Commission.
Three commissioners from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) were fired by Trump without cause. The thing is, the Senate had confirmed them, each appointed to serve for a specific period of time, and by statute such appointees can only be removed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office". So they sued, saying that their removal violated that law, and the Court not only agreed, but agreed to the point of summary judgement!
(Summary judgement is generally done when there are basically zero facts or law at issue, there is literally no case or controversy to be had, so in this case the law is clear, Trump's actions violated that law, and he can't do that.)
73. "Live-tweeting oral arguments on a motion for preliminary injunction in APHA v NIH.
Hearing starts at 11a EDT today
This is scheduled to be an argument about whether the Court should reinstate terminated NIH grants on topics like DEI, trans health, HIV prevention. But...
Ultimately, Judge Young held that his court could hear the claims in Mass v RFK, which is really good news for the plaintiffs in APHA v NIH."
And it has not gone well at all for the NIH or RFK, because the Judges (Republican picks) are asking logical questions and ripping apart the Federal Government's cases.
74.COURT ISSUES INJUNCTION AGAINST EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT TRIED TO FORCE STATES TO DEMAND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP TO REGISTER TO VOTE!
The order, which came at the end of an 44-page opinion, contains a couple of Easter eggs which are sure to delight you, so be sure to check out the screenshot which I've included!
"Judge Casper issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing key parts of the administration’s election Executive Order, which requires states to demand proof of citizenship for voter registration, imposes new requirements on public assistance agencies, and penalizes states for ballot receipt deadlines and ballot curing practices. The court found that the coalition of states suing the government showed a “substantial risk” that their citizens would be disenfranchised."
[The US's courts are not something to be trifled with - there's a reason I went to law school - I wanted to know how the system worked.]
75.COURT BARS TRUMP FROM EXPEDITING DEPORTATION OF BOULDER BOMBER'S FAMILY
This one is for my fellow Coloradans (although others may find it interesting as well). Note that this doesn't bar them from deporting them if legally appropriate, it just bars them from hustling them out of the country without due process.
76.Good bill from CA State Senator Scott Wiener (who reps San Francisco):
We’re announcing new legislation — the No Secret Police Act (SB 627) — to ban local/state/federal law enforcement, w/ some exceptions, from covering their faces when interacting w/ the public & require them to wear identifying info.
"The secret police behavior we’re seeing destroys trust & must end🧵
We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people.
It’s antithetical to democracy & deeply harms communities.
The No Secret Police Act will help put a stop to the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities."
77. A federal judge has ordered the government to restore hundreds of NIH grants slashed by the Trump administration, ruling the cuts were discriminatory against minorities and LGBTQ individuals. The judge said he’d have to be “blind” not to see the discrimination and declared the cuts illegal.
78.The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office says the Trump administration broke the law by withholding funding for the nation’s libraries as part of its federal reorganization plan. The G.A.O. will sue if the administration continues to block funds already approved by Congress.
79. A federal judge ruled the termination of NIH grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump regime was “void and illegal,” and accused the regime of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
80.Judge says government can’t limit passport sex markers for many transgender, nonbinary people.
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-passports-nonbinary-trump-policy-e5d13b6064c06619c654896fc0305983
Tuesday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick means that transgender or nonbinary people who are without a passport or need to apply for a new one can request a male, female or “X” identification marker rather than being limited to the marker that matches the gender assigned at birth.
81. Mike Lee has caved to the public outcry and Senate pressure, deleting his "nasty" posts about the political assassin in MN.
[What happened? Senator Mike Lee posted nasty tweets on social media about the murders in MN. Amy Blocher cornered him a hallway and called him to task, as did various Senators, he was shamed into taking them down and deleting them.]
82.“What if we could not only detect a cancer’s presence but divine its intent?” A science startup has developed an early-detection test for multiple cancers, using DNA found in blood samples.
"Early work with cell-free DNA hints at this possibility: blood tests that may one day tell us not only where a cancer began but whether it’s likely to pose a threat to health."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/23/the-catch-in-catching-cancer-early
83.“Trojan Horse” Therapy Can Halt Blood Cancer for Longer Than Current Treatments
"In a world first, England’s National Health Service has approved a new treatment for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Aptly named “Trojan horse” therapy, the cutting-edge medicine sneakily delivers toxic drugs inside cancerous cells to kill them.
Although myeloma is currently considered incurable, this infusion therapy is being hailed as a milestone for two main reasons: Clinical trials showed it can both halt the blood cancer for nearly three times as long as current therapies (from 13 months to three years) and reduce negative side effects. “This is a really important development for people with myeloma, because although we may not be able to cure the illness, giving them time free of the disease and free of the symptoms is really important,” Peter Johnson, the national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, told the BBC.
One of those patients is Paul Silvester, who was among the first to receive the new medication. Unlike other treatments that left him feeling isolated for months, the 60-year-old said this one allows him to keep enjoying life and making plans, like seeing his daughter graduate later this year. “Most people say ‘you look really really well’ … I have a good normal life,” he shared, noting that the therapy has been “absolutely life-changing.”
84.For the First Time in Years, a Rare “Ghost Elephant” Was Spotted on Camera
"It’s not every day a ghost is caught on camera, and this one has a trunk, tusk, and large ears. An elusive elephant dubbed a “ghost elephant” was spotted by a camera trap in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park. The animal is a critically endangered African forest elephant, so this sighting is energizing conservationists about saving the species.
The rare footage, captured by the wild cat conservation organization Panthera and Senegal’s National Parks Directorate, shows a glimpse of the elephant during an evening stroll. He pauses in the camera’s direction before carrying on walking in the moonlight, not realizing he’s providing the first images of his species in the park in five years.
Because of the elephant’s mysterious nature combined with its species’ small population size, sightings are hard to come by — making this moment all the more special. “Elephants are under immense pressure in West Africa. Only a few populations of the pachyderms survive in this region,” Philipp Henschel, west and central regional director of Panthera, said in a statement to Newsweek. “Niokolo-Koba National Park, where this individual was filmed, is the last area in Senegal where this endangered species survives.”
Now, officials hope to discover if this elephant is the last survivor in the park — and if so, whether or not introducing more elephants may be a possibility to give a much-needed boost to the overall population."
https://nicenews.com/environment/rare-ghost-elephant-spotted-on-camera/
85. Stitching Together Purpose in Prison: Quilting Doc Sparks a Surge of Fabric Donations
"In May, Netflix released a short documentary called The Quilters, which follows a group of men in a maximum security Missouri prison who spend 40 hours a week making personalized quilts for foster children and kids with disabilities. Stitch by stitch, the men are seen embracing the restorative justice program as they find a “sense of pride in creating something beautiful in this windowless, sacred space deep within the prison walls,” the show description reads.
Just one month after the premiere date, it’s clear the quilters’ stories have touched viewers — so much so that the Missouri Department of Corrections recently issued a statement that donations of fabric and yarn are no longer needed. “We, too, are moved by the film and are, every day, awestruck by the generous and beautiful work done by Missourians in our Restorative Justice Organization programs … However, we currently are overwhelmed by donations and are running out of storage space for fabric and yarn,” the statement said.
Although the fabric stash is at capacity, supporters are still welcome to offer monetary donations to help fund restorative justice programs. And if you haven’t seen the documentary yet, we highly recommend setting aside 33 minutes to give it a watch."
https://modocrestorativejustice.centralbank.net/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/the-quilters-netflix-documentary?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
86.MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time since the British intelligence agency was founded in 1909. [It's catching up with the James Bond films in that regard, also Slow Horses.]
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxyx04dv1wo?xtor&ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
87.Whoopi Goldberg is adding athletics to her resume, co-founding the first global women’s sports network.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-all-womens-sports-network/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
88.The Grammys have announced a new category for 2026: best album cover. The Recording Academy is highlighting the evolution of album artwork — from cardboard sleeves and plastic cases to today’s digital thumbnails.
https://www.today.com/video/grammys-adds-best-album-cover-category-for-2026-241517637962?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
89.Teachers and Students Are Rising Up to Defend Anti-Racist Education in the US
"A formidable coalition in support of California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum emerged, including the Association for Asian American Studies, the Arab American Studies Association, Black Lives Matter, Jewish Voice for Peace, veterans of the 1968 student strikes for ethnic studies, and many internationally recognized scholars, such as Angela Davis and Robin D. G. Kelley. “Progressive Jewish educators and activists made it clear that the pro-Israel lobby does not speak for them,” wrote truth teacher and co-coordinator of the Teach Palestine Project, Jody Sokolower."
"Honest educators believe that those who oppose Israeli repression and genocide—a movement made up of hundreds of millions of people all over the world— should not be censored in the classroom and that students have a right to learn about the movement for a free Palestine. “Young people are now watching genocide live streamed on social media as we speak, thousands more children are starved, injured, and murdered with weapons purchased with our United States tax dollars,” the children’s book author of Our Skin, Megan Madison, told me when I asked her about why it was important to resist truthcrime laws. “They don’t just want to ban books. They want to hurt trans kids. They want to silence Black progressive leadership, and they are preying on the trauma of Jewish people . . .” As challenging as it can be to teach truth about Palestine in the current period, as Rethinking Schools editorialized, “We should understand and take hope in the reason this backlash has grown in intensity: More people than ever are refusing to stay quiet in the face of racism and injustice.”
This article is an excerpt from "Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education," by Jesse Hagopian, Copyright © 2025.
https://truthout.org/articles/teachers-and-students-are-rising-up-to-defend-anti-racist-education-in-the-us/
90.Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday calling for an end to public service and welfare cuts, in the first big anti-austerity march under Keir Starmer’s Labour government.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/07/anti-austerity-march-london-labour-starmer-cuts
91."Christian Bale is helping to build Together California, a foster care home designed to keep orphaned siblings together, in the desert community of Palmdale, California. Some organizations estimate up to 75 percent of siblings end up living apart after entering foster care in the U.S.
"And so you imagine the trauma of that, you know? But added trauma to being taken from your parents, and then you lose your siblings, you know, that's just something that we shouldn't be doing," Bale told "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Tracy Smith."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christian-bales-on-a-mission-to-keep-foster-siblings-together-for-him-its-the-role-of-a-lifetime/
92.Judge deems Trump's cuts to National Institutes of Health illegal
The federal judge said the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to DEI initiatives.
A federal judge in Boston said Monday the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump administration was “void and illegal” and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
U.S. District Judge William Young said during a nonjury trial that the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/judge-deems-trumps-cuts-national-institutes-health-illegal-rcna213360
93.NYC Comptroller Brad Lander arrested by ICE merely after calmly demanding to see a judicial warrant, which the agents did not produce, as they seized people at the courthouse. He has since been released, after the Governor of New York State and various others denounced it. (If anything it's helped rise him to the top of mayoral race in NYC. I was planning on ranking him anyhow.)
94. Last week, Colorado wildlife officials confirmed there are new wolf pups in the state! 🐾 This news comes just a year and a half after the historic reintroduction of wolves to Colorado and serves as a beacon of hope for their restoration in the state.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/index.html
[Honestly, the State of Colorado gets this week's award for the most good news items. Way to go Colorado. If you've never been? Go or try to visit at some point, it is a beautiful state with lots of contrasts. I was lucky enough to spend four years in college there - and traveled about the State as a teen in the 1980s.]
95.Rare Purple Californian Flowers Are Blooming More Than Ever
At Las Piletas Ranch Preserve in San Luis Obispo County, a surprising botanical discovery may alter the conservation future of a rare purple California wildflower. Researchers there uncovered a population explosion of the Camatta Canyon amole previously thought to exist in only two known locations, with an estimated 10,000 plants globally. The scientists identified more than 16,000 amoles just at Las Piletas, according to Scott Butterfield, a lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s land program in California, who helped with the discovery.
https://www.kqed.org/science/1997262/rare-purple-californian-flowers-are-blooming-more-than-ever
96.Judge rules some NIH grant cuts illegal, saying he’s never seen such discrimination in 40 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants, adding that the cuts raise serious questions about racial discrimination.
U.S. District Judge William Young in Massachusetts said the administration’s process was “arbitrary and capricious” and that it did not follow long-held government rules and standards when it abruptly canceled grants deemed to focus on gender identity or diversity, equity and inclusion.
97. American Bar Association Sues Trump Administration -A lawsuit by the lawyers group seeks to stop the president’s efforts to punish law firms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/american-bar-association-sues-trump-administration.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
98.The NAACP has filed an intent to sue Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company over air pollution from a supercomputer data center in Memphis.
https://apnews.com/article/memphis-xai-elon-musk-pollution-naacp-571c16950259b382f9eae61bd59260ef
Okay, I found 98 items. And I'm tired.
[I feel at times that reading through the news is akin to watching a television serial with a really annoying villain, and I keep thinking, come on writers, kill it already. But alas no, they kill off the characters I like instead. I want new writers. That said, it's not all doom and gloom, there's spots of good news in there - actually more good than bad if you know where to look - and depending on your perspective. I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and it's not only weirdly comforting for a horror series, but also made me a bit hopeful and optimistic.]
Good night and Good Luck all.
I'd cough you to sleep, but I think that would be a tad discomforting? So here's a photo of a flower instead:
As always, Good News is more often than not in the eyes of the beholder. So mileage may vary.
1. 13.14 Million or 4% of the population of the US came out and protested for "No Kings". "We’re honored to announce a final count of 13.14 million in attendance across 2,300+ No Kings protests nationwide. It took a little longer to finalize due to the sheer scale, but the turnout was historic!
So far, 71 MAGA agitators have been arrested, with 62 additional investigations still underway. We’re actively reviewing online threats and working on escalating where needed. If you see something, say something." - per Alt National Parks.
What does this mean: The 3.5% Rule or How a small minority can change the world
"Nonviolent protests are twice as likely to succeed as armed conflicts – and those engaging a threshold of 3.5% of the population have never failed to bring about change.
In 1986, millions of Filipinos took to the streets of Manila in peaceful protest and prayer in the People Power movement. The Marcos regime folded on the fourth day.
In 2003, the people of Georgia ousted Eduard Shevardnadze through the bloodless Rose Revolution, in which protestors stormed the parliament building holding the flowers in their hands. While in 2019, the presidents of Sudan and Algeria both announced they would step aside after decades in office, thanks to peaceful campaigns of resistance."
Also keep in mind, that a lot of folks, like myself, who couldn't go out and protest by marching, are protesting and resisting in other ways. So it is far more than 4%.
And in direct contrast, only 8,900 showed up for the big military parade, and even the military was unenthused, shuffled along, and didn't march in step, silently protesting their dislike and discomfort with the proceedings. No one was happy with the parade.
2. 81% of U.S. adults say that if a federal court rules that an action is illegal, then Trump has to follow its ruling, per NBC poll. Among Trump supporters, 50% agree.
3. From limiting who can purchase most semiautomatic rifles on the market today to raising the minimum age to buy ammunition, Colorado Democrats in the Colorado legislature were busy this year imposing new gun regulations - specifically in the state of Colorado.
The 12 gun bills passed by the Colorado legislature this year and signed into law
4. Disgraced Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of committing a sex crime by a jury in New York, more than a year after the state Supreme Court overturned his 2020 conviction on felony sex crime charges. A jury of seven women and five men on Wednesday found Weinstein guilty of a first-degree criminal sexual act. The jury acquitted him on a second count of first-degree criminal sexual act, and it did not reach a unanimous verdict on a count of third-degree rape.
https://www.msnbc.com/top-stories/latest/harvey-weinstein-guilty-retrial-sex-crime-new-york-rcna202460
5.The House approves four nominees to the governing board of the Office of Congressional Conduct, providing the board with enough members to operate and continue its role of investigating and uncovering misconduct by Congress members.
https://campaignlegal.org/update/win-ethics-clc-partners-succeed-preserving-office-congressional-conduct
6.Library of Congress employees uphold the Constitution’s separation of powers by not admitting two DOJ officials appointed by the president to lead the agency who have not been confirmed by the Senate.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/12/politics/library-of-congress-trump-justice-blanche?bt_ee=2QgjkqKxaHyuagkHOeb0m6RbI2h%2FZ9394%2B4e4zEovFoF9q%2BF2LTnhSUP%2BuXHEzeX&bt_ts=1747140898649
7.A federal court orders the administration to promptly facilitate contact between Widmer Josneyder Agelviz Sanguino and his lawyers after immigration enforcement illegally deported Sanguino to a notoriously abusive prison in El Salvador.
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/venezuelan-man-admitted-us-refugee-sent-salvadoran-prison-rcna207642
8.Six weeks after being seized off the streets and detained under a false claim by DHS, doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk is released from ICE detention to resume her studies and live in the community while attorneys seek reinstatement of her visa.
https://www.cnn.com/2025/05/09/us/rumeysa-ozturk-tufts-bail-release
9. Attorneys general from 20 states file two lawsuits against the administration over its threats to illegally withhold billions of congressionally allocated funds from states if they don’t meet federal immigration enforcement demands.
https://thehill.com/homenews/5298257-20-states-sue-trump-administration-grants-immigration-enforcement/
10. Colorado becomes the ninth state to pass a state-level Voting Rights Act into law.
https://coloradonewsline.com/2025/05/12/polis-signs-voting-rights-act-colorado/
11.Florida: A bill that would have required proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote fails to advance in the legislature.
https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/05/08/the-failed-florida-election-bill-that-angered-voting-rights-and-voting-integrity-advocates-alike/
12. The prejudices underpinning sex-selective abortion appear to have ebbed, even if they have not disappeared. Meanwhile, a preference for girls is emerging, especially in rich countries. [Why?: In 2000 an estimated 1.6m baby girls were “missing”, if you compare the sex ratio at birth with what would occur naturally; this year that number is expected to be 200,000. In much of Asia, the spread of ultrasound scans and a strong traditional preference for baby boys resulted in the widespread termination of girls. This led, years later, to a big surplus of young men who could not get married. The glut of frustrated bachelors was socially destabilising, leading to an increase in violent crime.]
13. The US Supreme Court declined to take up two appeals, from Maryland and Rhode Island, that could have had bad ramifications for the gun violence prevention movement.
https://www.scotusblog.com/2025/06/supreme-court-declines-to-hear-gun-control-challenges/
14. Protesters by the thousands marched through Chicago last Tuesday, stopping traffic in the downtown Loop and chanting anti-Trump slogans as they denounced immigration raids in Los Angeles, Chicago and other Cities.
15.The Utah Legislature’s own newly released study found that gender-affirming care benefits trans youth. The study was commissioned under the state’s 2023 law that prohibited gender-affirming care for minors — and the findings completely contradict the basis of that law.
https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2025/05/22/utah-lawmakers-own-study-found/
16. Trump’s private golf club in Bedminster, N.J. was hit with a remarkable 18 health code violations, nine of them considered “critical.” (Lowest Score in the County)
https://www.nydailynews.com/2025/06/04/trump-bedminster-golf-club-health-code-violations/?lctg=27193028
17. At least 11 big companies are moving work away from law firms that settled with the administration or are giving—or intend to give—more business to firms that have been targeted but refused to strike deals.
https://www.wsj.com/us-news/law/law-firms-trump-deals-clients-71b3616d?lctg=27193028
18. High school students in Milford, MA, staged a massive walkout protesting ICE’s arrest of student Marcelo Gomes da Silva.
"Students at Massachusetts’s Milford high school staged a walkout on Monday to show support for their classmate Marcelo Gomes Da Silva, who was headed to volleyball practice when he was detained over the weekend by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) agents who were actually looking for his father."
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/jun/03/boston-student-protest-ice-arrest-marcelo-gomes-da-silva
19.After more than a month in jail, a waitress in a small Missouri town who immigrated from Hong Kong 20 years ago was released by ICE. Carol’s arrest rattled her conservative community, which came together to call for her release.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/04/us/politics/carol-missouri-migrant.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Mk8.moJG.C4HgG0QLvnvK&smid=url-share&sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40
20.A Guatemalan man who was wrongly deported to Mexico was permitted to reenter the United States, marking the first known instance of the Trump administration returning a deportee in response to a judicial order.
https://archive.ph/DZgUt#selection-329.0-333.199
21.Damian Williams, the former top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, is leaving the law firm Paul Weiss to join Jenner & Block, defecting from a firm that struck a deal with the Trump administration to sign on with one that fought it in court.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/former-manhattan-us-attorney-williams-leaves-law-firm-paul-weiss-2025-06-06/
22.Workers in Pittsburgh, PA, Richmond, VA, and Albuquerque, NM, voted to unionize with Starbucks Workers United. These wins bring their movement to over 600 union victories since December 2021.
23.49ers superstar Brock Purdy donates entire $25 million bonus and sponsorship deal to charities and homeless relief organizations. “There are millions of people struggling every day — families without homes, kids without food, veterans without support,” Brock Purdy said.
24. The LAUSD police force is protecting Angelenos from the feds. Los Angeles school police set up a safety perimeter around campuses and school events — including graduations — to keep federal immigration agents away from students, employees and families, starting last Monday.
25.CDC Reinstates Hundreds of Fired Employees: The rehired staff, who number around 460, work with the CDC’s viral disease prevention efforts and sexual health testing labs, among others. The reinstatements are a ray of light in an acrimonious week that also saw protests and the complete overhaul of the agency’s vaccine advisory committee. - The CDC reinstated some 460 employees who had previously been laid off, according to reporting from The Associated Press, citing a union representing the workers.
Some 200 of the rehired employees belonged to the CDC’s National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Prevention, as per the AP, while staff at labs that test for sexually transmitted disease have also been reinstated. Meanwhile, around 150 employees at the CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health have also returned to the agency. - This is not the first time HHS has walked back on its massive layoffs. On Monday, for instance, the FDA reinstalled its generic drug policy office after previously clearing the team out. Since Kennedy’s reorganization sweep in March, the FDA has also brought back dozens of fired employees, some of whom were involved in making travel arrangements for inspectors and in negotiating the regulator’s user fee programs.
https://www.biospace.com/policy/amid-acip-shake-up-cdc-reinstates-hundreds-of-fired-employees
26. They had to hire extra security around Trump’s golf course in Aberdeen, because Scottish men kept breaking in and shitting in the holes.
27. A major motion was granted in the case of Kilmer Abrego Garcia that allows the wrongfully deported man’s legal team to sanction the US Department of Justice over its abuse of confidentiality orders and for withholding unredacted materials from the court. Also, he’s back in the U.S.
https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/69777799/abrego-garcia-v-noem/#entry-179
28.The International Energy Agency predicts global investment in clean energy will reach $2.2 trillion this year, marking another record high.
https://www.iea.org/reports/world-energy-investment-2025/executive-summary?_hsmi=365145678
29.Newark Mayor Ras Baraka (D) sued Alina Habba, U.S. attorney for New Jersey and a former personal lawyer for President Donald Trump, for false arrest, malicious prosecution and defamation stemming from his arrest for protesting the Trump administration's deportation policies.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/newark-mayor-ras-baraka-sues-trump-lawyer-alina-habba-arrest/?_hsmi=364724510
30.The mayor of Tulsa, Oklahoma announced that the city has approved $105 million in reparations for the infamous Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2025/06/03/tulsa-mayor-reparations-race-massacre/
31. A judge ordered the government to allow Venezuelan men who were removed from the U.S. earlier this year to challenge their ongoing imprisonment in El Salvador.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/trump-administration-must-allow-alien-enemies-act-challenges-judge-says/?_hsmi=365303132
32. South Korean politician Lee Jae-myung, a left-leaning candidate, won the country’s presidential election.
https://www.wsj.com/world/asia/south-korean-left-leaning-candidate-poised-to-win-presidential-election-25eda8e9?mod=hp_lead_pos9
33. Wisconsin’s first large-scale, solar-powered battery storage project is operational and can power more than 130,000 homes for up to four hours.
https://www.jsonline.com/story/money/business/energy/2025/06/03/wisconsins-first-large-scale-energy-storage-system-has-12000-batteries/83997871007/?_hsmi=364595509
34. A coalition of immigrants rights organizations and criminal defense lawyers sued the Trump administration to block the government from paying El Salvador to imprison the hundreds of removed Venezuelan migrants.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/immigration-groups-sue-trump-administration-el-salvador-payments-imprison-migrants/?_hsmi=365303132
35.A Santa Barbara, CA judge granted a temporary restraining order to stop Sable Offshore’s dangerous pipeline restart — the same corroded pipeline that spilled 450,000 gallons of oil into Chumash waters 10 years ago.
https://www.noozhawk.com/judge-issues-temporary-restraining-order-against-restart-of-sables-santa-barbara-oil-pipelines/#:~:text=A%20Santa%20Barbara%20Superior%20Court,the%202015%20Refugio%20Oil%20Spill
36. The FCC's lone Democratic Commissioner is challenging the weaponization of her agency.
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/an-fcc-commissioner-sounds-the-alarm-plus-the/id73330715?i=1000710579661
37.Lawmakers in Hawaii have passed first-of-its-kind legislation that will increase the state’s lodging tax to raise money for environmental protection and strengthening defenses against natural disasters fueled by the climate crisis.
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/may/05/hawaii-bill-tax-hotel-tourist-green-fee?CMP=greenlight_email&ref=climativity.com
"The bill passed on Friday adds a 0.75% levy to the state’s existing tax on hotel rooms, timeshares, vacation rentals and other short-term accommodations. It also imposes a new 11% tax on cruise ship bills, prorated for the number of days the vessels are in Hawaii ports.
Officials estimate the tax will generate nearly $100m annually. They say the money will be used for projects like replenishing sand on eroding Waikiki beaches, promoting the use of hurricane clips to secure roofs during powerful storms and clearing flammable invasive grasses like those that fed the deadly wildfire that destroyed downtown Lahaina in 2023."
38. A new AI-powered internal tool that aims to streamline U.S. EPA practices is highlighting the importance of climate action, contradicting the agency’s current direction.
"EPA has a new generative artificial intelligence tool. And it believes climate change is dangerous.
That puts it at odds with the Trump administration, which aims to sideline climate change research and data to make it easier to repeal regulations. "
[The Trump Administration is losing, folks, because they can't control the narrative.]
https://www.eenews.net/articles/epas-new-ai-tool-disagrees-with-zeldin-on-climate-change/?_hsmi=365406387
39. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander announced new climate standards for pension fund asset managers, including clear net-zero goals that decrease their scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions.
https://comptroller.nyc.gov/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/2025-04-22_NYC-Comptrollers-Office_Net-Zero-Implementation-v2-1-1.pdf
40.The largest land back deal in California history is returning 17,000 acres around the Klamath to the Yurok, the final parcel of a nearly 50,000-acre land transfer.
https://grist.org/indigenous/in-californias-largest-landback-deal-the-yurok-tribe-reclaims-sacred-land-around-the-klamath-river/
41. Democrat Keishan Scott defeated his Republican rival in a landslide win for a seat in the South Carolina House of Representatives. Scott, who is 24, secured over 70% of the votes cast in a special election.
https://www.newsweek.com/democrats-achieve-landslide-election-win-south-carolina-2080667
42.Democrats had a strong night in Mississippi, flipping several seats from red to blue. They even defeated a few incumbent Republican mayors.
https://magnoliatribune.com/2025/06/05/democrats-celebrate-major-victories-in-mississippi-municipal-elections-republicans-say-they-are-still-winning-the-war/
43.Two of the parties behind an AI-generated robocall that imitated then-President Joe Biden and warned residents not to vote in the New Hampshire Democratic primary have agreed to settle a civil lawsuit brought by voting groups.
" The defendants will increase reporting on spoofing, create a compliance team or AI and conduct regular training for staff on how to identify deceptive messages and the dangers of misinformation in U.S. elections. "
https://cyberscoop.com/biden-ai-robocall-league-of-women-voters-lawsuit-life-corporation-voice-broadcasting/
44. After massive public backlash, high schooler Marcelo Gomes da Silva was granted bond and released from an ICE detention facility.
https://apnews.com/article/marcelo-gomes-ice-massachusetts-arrest-volleyball-1356302a723f6f5b0a95028754f7291e
45. Two prominent former Republicans—Joe Walsh and David Jolly— have joined the Democratic party. Jolly is running for Florida governor as well.
https://apnews.com/article/david-jolly-governor-race-florida-democrat-trump-86ac06034e76481a3b6c204af75b7300?link_source=ta_thread_link&taid=68416166ed07b900019f42cb
https://socialcontractwithjoewalsh.substack.com/p/from-the-tea-party-to-the-democratic?r=4csydt&triedRedirect=true
46.A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore AmeriCorps-funded programs in Washington, D.C., and 24 Democratic-led states as their lawsuit proceeds over recent cuts.
https://mcusercontent.com/cc1fad182b6d6f8b1e352e206/files/9b38f099-80e9-63f4-b116-07cc12a438de/060525_AmeriCorps_PI_Order.pdf
47. Democrat Gina Ortiz Jones, a former Under Secretary of the Air Force under Joe Biden, won the mayoral race in San Antonio, TX. She beat Republican Rolando Pablos, a former secretary of state who ran with (lots of) support from Governor Greg Abbott.
48.A federal judge said the U.S. Bureau of Prisons must keep providing gender-affirming care to transgender people who are incarcerated.
49.The family of a 4-year-old Bakersfield girl with a rare medical condition has been granted humanitarian protection from deportation, allowing her to continue receiving lifesaving treatment in the United States.
https://archive.ph/yrcBj
50.The LA County Public Library is expanding free, in-person tutoring for elementary school students to 45 locations this summer.
https://laist.com/news/education/summer-reading-program-2025-los-angeles-public-library?sh_kit=7a2950363f4b90b1881ae76c68d24551846eea9063b67a6a14e9fa39bc419e40
51. Ukraine launched a “large-scale” drone attack against Russian military bombers in Siberia and struck more than 40 warplanes thousands of miles from its own territory. MAN does it feel good to see Ukraine score a win!
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/01/ukraine-launches-major-drone-attack-on-russian-bombers-security-official-says
52. Striking workers in Washington state will qualify for unemployment benefits starting next year, making it the third state to provide such benefits to workers on strike.
"Farmers score a win against climate censorship, striking workers get help, courts defend public schools, and paradise is protected."
https://www.levernews.com/you-love-to-see-it-climate-data-is-unscrubbed/
53.Harvard is offering free courses on US history, civic engagement, and politics
https://pll.harvard.edu/subject/government
54.Massachusetts-based Boston Metal is on the verge of earning its first revenue as it continues honing a novel steelmaking process so clean it can vent emissions into a parking lot the company shares with a day care center.
https://www.canarymedia.com/articles/green-steel/boston-metal-decarbonization-technology?amp%3Butm_medium=email&%3Butm_campaign=canary&_hsmi=365145678
55. Following months of protests, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a new law, unanimously passed by state lawmakers, preventing any development projects on the state’s protected lands.
"The State Park Preservation Act will protect all 175 of the state parks by preventing developers from building golf courses, hotels or other commercial projects on state park land."
https://www.wfla.com/news/floridas-state-parks-are-now-protected-from-developments-after-gov-desantis-signs-new-law/
56.For the first time, a wrongful death case was brought against fossil fuel companies for their alleged role in global warming, causing a heat wave in the Pacific Northwest, where a woman died from overheating.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/29/climate/oil-companies-wrongful-death-lawsuit-heat-dome.html?unlocked_article_code=1.K08.NKgZ.tzj0mbirjgtj&smid=url-share
57.Judges are ruling against Trump at an accelerating pace, with the monthly percentage of losses by Trump from February to May trending upward: 53%, 74%, 76%, and 96%.
https://roberthubbell.substack.com/p/the-growing-judicial-resistance-to
58.An animal rescue nonprofit in Houston, TX transforms sheds into “mutternity suites” for stray pregnant dogs in need of a safe place to give birth.
https://people.com/rescue-transforms-sheds-into-mutternity-suites-for-pregnant-stray-dogs-exclusive-11729519
59. Since January, the New Georgia Project helped to register 10,000 Georgians to vote.
https://www.threads.com/@newgeorgiaproject/post/DJpHyzIO9cJ
60.Greyhound upholds the rights of their passengers by not permitting warrantless immigration enforcement activities on their buslines or at their stations.
https://www.greyhound.com/warrantless-bus-searches
61.Pittsburgh’s airport builds a field of solar panels in a former 12-acre landfill, boosting its own renewable energy and that of nearby homes and businesses.
https://electrek.co/2025/04/30/pittsburgh-airport-landfill-solar/
62.New York City temporarily changes its affordable housing lottery system to immediately place unhoused people and families in readily available apartments.
https://gothamist.com/news/nyc-has-a-plan-to-fill-empty-affordable-apartments-at-least-for-now
63. Decatur, GA creates a reparations task force to provide policy recommendations to address how racial injustice has historically, financially, and systematically harmed Black residents.
https://www.blackenterprise.com/city-in-metro-atlanta-approves-reparations-task-force-with-apology-to-black-residents/
64. North Carolina: Justice Allison Riggs’s reelection to the state Supreme Court is finally certified six months after her win, following a federal court order blocking the losing candidate’s unfounded efforts to overturn the will of the electorate.
https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/its-over-republican-jefferson-griffin-concedes-in-north-carolina-supreme-court-race/
65. A MT court strikes down a ban on gender-affirmative healthcare for transgender youth, finding that the ban violated the state constitution.
https://lambdalegal.org/newsroom/cross_mt_20250513_court-strikes-down-ban-on-healthcare-for-trans-youth/
66.Maine: Following a lawsuit brought by the state, the presidential administration halts their efforts to freeze USDA funds in retaliation for Maine’s supportive, gender-inclusive student sports policy.
https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-politics-and-policy/trump-administration-settles-maine-funding-freeze-dispute-trans-athlet-rcna204541
67.Maryland will fund a program to pay for abortions regardless of a patient’s insurance coverage.
https://thegrio.com/2025/05/15/maryland-gov-wes-moore-signs-bill-to-tap-unused-aca-insurance-funds-for-abortion-grant-program/
68.Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem took down her list of “sanctuary cities” she said weren’t cooperating with federal immigration authorities after the National Sheriffs’ Association demanded an apology.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/sanctuary-cities-dhs-list-kristi-noem-remove-b2761985.html
69.Realizing the illegality, and the effect it would have losing him voters, Trump's U.S. Department of Education is pausing its plan to garnish people’s Social Security benefits if they have defaulted on their student loans.
https://www.cnbc.com/2025/06/02/trump-pauses-social-security-benefit-cuts-over-defaulted-student-loans.html
70. THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES HAS FILED AN AMICUS CURIAE BRIEF IN THE NEWSOM V. TRUMP CASE. An Amicus Curiae brief is a "friend of the court" brief filed by organizations (and even sometimes individuals) who are *not* parties to the case, but who have knowledge and expertise that may help to inform the court about the case. One has to request the permission of the court in order to file an Amicus brief.
No, it is not rare for a City to file an amicus brief in defense of the State's governor in regards to a Federal action that it deems inappropriate. But it's not really happened for about 100 years.
71."For the reasons stated in its hearing on June 13, 2025, the Court finds that actions to be taken pursuant to the State Department's reorganization plans first announced publicly on April 22, 2025 and later provided to Congress are prohibited by the Court's injunctive relief, as are all final separations scheduled in the State Departments Counter Foreign Information Manipulation and Interference program. If the State Department has any question about whether planned actions fall within the scope of the Court's injunction, the Court ORDERS the Department to first raise those questions with the Court before taking action."
[ie. The Trump Administration and Project 2025 framers are running up against the US Constitution, and the system of Checks and Balances, along with a firm tradition of State's rights.]
72. Summary Judgment was found for the Plantiffs - basically they can't fire the three commissioners or anyone from the Consumer Production Safety Commission.
Three commissioners from the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) were fired by Trump without cause. The thing is, the Senate had confirmed them, each appointed to serve for a specific period of time, and by statute such appointees can only be removed for "neglect of duty or malfeasance in office". So they sued, saying that their removal violated that law, and the Court not only agreed, but agreed to the point of summary judgement!
(Summary judgement is generally done when there are basically zero facts or law at issue, there is literally no case or controversy to be had, so in this case the law is clear, Trump's actions violated that law, and he can't do that.)
73. "Live-tweeting oral arguments on a motion for preliminary injunction in APHA v NIH.
Hearing starts at 11a EDT today
This is scheduled to be an argument about whether the Court should reinstate terminated NIH grants on topics like DEI, trans health, HIV prevention. But...
Ultimately, Judge Young held that his court could hear the claims in Mass v RFK, which is really good news for the plaintiffs in APHA v NIH."
And it has not gone well at all for the NIH or RFK, because the Judges (Republican picks) are asking logical questions and ripping apart the Federal Government's cases.
74.COURT ISSUES INJUNCTION AGAINST EXECUTIVE ORDER THAT TRIED TO FORCE STATES TO DEMAND PROOF OF CITIZENSHIP TO REGISTER TO VOTE!
The order, which came at the end of an 44-page opinion, contains a couple of Easter eggs which are sure to delight you, so be sure to check out the screenshot which I've included!
"Judge Casper issued a preliminary injunction blocking the administration from enforcing key parts of the administration’s election Executive Order, which requires states to demand proof of citizenship for voter registration, imposes new requirements on public assistance agencies, and penalizes states for ballot receipt deadlines and ballot curing practices. The court found that the coalition of states suing the government showed a “substantial risk” that their citizens would be disenfranchised."
[The US's courts are not something to be trifled with - there's a reason I went to law school - I wanted to know how the system worked.]
75.COURT BARS TRUMP FROM EXPEDITING DEPORTATION OF BOULDER BOMBER'S FAMILY
This one is for my fellow Coloradans (although others may find it interesting as well). Note that this doesn't bar them from deporting them if legally appropriate, it just bars them from hustling them out of the country without due process.
76.Good bill from CA State Senator Scott Wiener (who reps San Francisco):
We’re announcing new legislation — the No Secret Police Act (SB 627) — to ban local/state/federal law enforcement, w/ some exceptions, from covering their faces when interacting w/ the public & require them to wear identifying info.
"The secret police behavior we’re seeing destroys trust & must end🧵
We’re seeing the rise of secret police — masked, no identifying info, even wearing army fatigues — grabbing & disappearing people.
It’s antithetical to democracy & deeply harms communities.
The No Secret Police Act will help put a stop to the fear & chaos this behavior creates in communities."
77. A federal judge has ordered the government to restore hundreds of NIH grants slashed by the Trump administration, ruling the cuts were discriminatory against minorities and LGBTQ individuals. The judge said he’d have to be “blind” not to see the discrimination and declared the cuts illegal.
78.The nonpartisan Government Accountability Office says the Trump administration broke the law by withholding funding for the nation’s libraries as part of its federal reorganization plan. The G.A.O. will sue if the administration continues to block funds already approved by Congress.
79. A federal judge ruled the termination of NIH grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump regime was “void and illegal,” and accused the regime of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
80.Judge says government can’t limit passport sex markers for many transgender, nonbinary people.
https://apnews.com/article/transgender-passports-nonbinary-trump-policy-e5d13b6064c06619c654896fc0305983
Tuesday’s ruling from U.S. District Judge Julia Kobick means that transgender or nonbinary people who are without a passport or need to apply for a new one can request a male, female or “X” identification marker rather than being limited to the marker that matches the gender assigned at birth.
81. Mike Lee has caved to the public outcry and Senate pressure, deleting his "nasty" posts about the political assassin in MN.
[What happened? Senator Mike Lee posted nasty tweets on social media about the murders in MN. Amy Blocher cornered him a hallway and called him to task, as did various Senators, he was shamed into taking them down and deleting them.]
82.“What if we could not only detect a cancer’s presence but divine its intent?” A science startup has developed an early-detection test for multiple cancers, using DNA found in blood samples.
"Early work with cell-free DNA hints at this possibility: blood tests that may one day tell us not only where a cancer began but whether it’s likely to pose a threat to health."
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2025/06/23/the-catch-in-catching-cancer-early
83.“Trojan Horse” Therapy Can Halt Blood Cancer for Longer Than Current Treatments
"In a world first, England’s National Health Service has approved a new treatment for multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. Aptly named “Trojan horse” therapy, the cutting-edge medicine sneakily delivers toxic drugs inside cancerous cells to kill them.
Although myeloma is currently considered incurable, this infusion therapy is being hailed as a milestone for two main reasons: Clinical trials showed it can both halt the blood cancer for nearly three times as long as current therapies (from 13 months to three years) and reduce negative side effects. “This is a really important development for people with myeloma, because although we may not be able to cure the illness, giving them time free of the disease and free of the symptoms is really important,” Peter Johnson, the national clinical director for cancer at NHS England, told the BBC.
One of those patients is Paul Silvester, who was among the first to receive the new medication. Unlike other treatments that left him feeling isolated for months, the 60-year-old said this one allows him to keep enjoying life and making plans, like seeing his daughter graduate later this year. “Most people say ‘you look really really well’ … I have a good normal life,” he shared, noting that the therapy has been “absolutely life-changing.”
84.For the First Time in Years, a Rare “Ghost Elephant” Was Spotted on Camera
"It’s not every day a ghost is caught on camera, and this one has a trunk, tusk, and large ears. An elusive elephant dubbed a “ghost elephant” was spotted by a camera trap in Senegal’s Niokolo-Koba National Park. The animal is a critically endangered African forest elephant, so this sighting is energizing conservationists about saving the species.
The rare footage, captured by the wild cat conservation organization Panthera and Senegal’s National Parks Directorate, shows a glimpse of the elephant during an evening stroll. He pauses in the camera’s direction before carrying on walking in the moonlight, not realizing he’s providing the first images of his species in the park in five years.
Because of the elephant’s mysterious nature combined with its species’ small population size, sightings are hard to come by — making this moment all the more special. “Elephants are under immense pressure in West Africa. Only a few populations of the pachyderms survive in this region,” Philipp Henschel, west and central regional director of Panthera, said in a statement to Newsweek. “Niokolo-Koba National Park, where this individual was filmed, is the last area in Senegal where this endangered species survives.”
Now, officials hope to discover if this elephant is the last survivor in the park — and if so, whether or not introducing more elephants may be a possibility to give a much-needed boost to the overall population."
https://nicenews.com/environment/rare-ghost-elephant-spotted-on-camera/
85. Stitching Together Purpose in Prison: Quilting Doc Sparks a Surge of Fabric Donations
"In May, Netflix released a short documentary called The Quilters, which follows a group of men in a maximum security Missouri prison who spend 40 hours a week making personalized quilts for foster children and kids with disabilities. Stitch by stitch, the men are seen embracing the restorative justice program as they find a “sense of pride in creating something beautiful in this windowless, sacred space deep within the prison walls,” the show description reads.
Just one month after the premiere date, it’s clear the quilters’ stories have touched viewers — so much so that the Missouri Department of Corrections recently issued a statement that donations of fabric and yarn are no longer needed. “We, too, are moved by the film and are, every day, awestruck by the generous and beautiful work done by Missourians in our Restorative Justice Organization programs … However, we currently are overwhelmed by donations and are running out of storage space for fabric and yarn,” the statement said.
Although the fabric stash is at capacity, supporters are still welcome to offer monetary donations to help fund restorative justice programs. And if you haven’t seen the documentary yet, we highly recommend setting aside 33 minutes to give it a watch."
https://modocrestorativejustice.centralbank.net/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
https://www.goodgoodgood.co/articles/the-quilters-netflix-documentary?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
86.MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time since the British intelligence agency was founded in 1909. [It's catching up with the James Bond films in that regard, also Slow Horses.]
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czxyx04dv1wo?xtor&ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
87.Whoopi Goldberg is adding athletics to her resume, co-founding the first global women’s sports network.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/whoopi-goldberg-all-womens-sports-network/?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
88.The Grammys have announced a new category for 2026: best album cover. The Recording Academy is highlighting the evolution of album artwork — from cardboard sleeves and plastic cases to today’s digital thumbnails.
https://www.today.com/video/grammys-adds-best-album-cover-category-for-2026-241517637962?ck_subscriber_id=3259884285
89.Teachers and Students Are Rising Up to Defend Anti-Racist Education in the US
"A formidable coalition in support of California’s Ethnic Studies Model Curriculum emerged, including the Association for Asian American Studies, the Arab American Studies Association, Black Lives Matter, Jewish Voice for Peace, veterans of the 1968 student strikes for ethnic studies, and many internationally recognized scholars, such as Angela Davis and Robin D. G. Kelley. “Progressive Jewish educators and activists made it clear that the pro-Israel lobby does not speak for them,” wrote truth teacher and co-coordinator of the Teach Palestine Project, Jody Sokolower."
"Honest educators believe that those who oppose Israeli repression and genocide—a movement made up of hundreds of millions of people all over the world— should not be censored in the classroom and that students have a right to learn about the movement for a free Palestine. “Young people are now watching genocide live streamed on social media as we speak, thousands more children are starved, injured, and murdered with weapons purchased with our United States tax dollars,” the children’s book author of Our Skin, Megan Madison, told me when I asked her about why it was important to resist truthcrime laws. “They don’t just want to ban books. They want to hurt trans kids. They want to silence Black progressive leadership, and they are preying on the trauma of Jewish people . . .” As challenging as it can be to teach truth about Palestine in the current period, as Rethinking Schools editorialized, “We should understand and take hope in the reason this backlash has grown in intensity: More people than ever are refusing to stay quiet in the face of racism and injustice.”
This article is an excerpt from "Teach Truth: The Struggle for Antiracist Education," by Jesse Hagopian, Copyright © 2025.
https://truthout.org/articles/teachers-and-students-are-rising-up-to-defend-anti-racist-education-in-the-us/
90.Thousands of people marched through central London on Saturday calling for an end to public service and welfare cuts, in the first big anti-austerity march under Keir Starmer’s Labour government.
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2025/jun/07/anti-austerity-march-london-labour-starmer-cuts
91."Christian Bale is helping to build Together California, a foster care home designed to keep orphaned siblings together, in the desert community of Palmdale, California. Some organizations estimate up to 75 percent of siblings end up living apart after entering foster care in the U.S.
"And so you imagine the trauma of that, you know? But added trauma to being taken from your parents, and then you lose your siblings, you know, that's just something that we shouldn't be doing," Bale told "CBS Sunday Morning" correspondent Tracy Smith."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/christian-bales-on-a-mission-to-keep-foster-siblings-together-for-him-its-the-role-of-a-lifetime/
92.Judge deems Trump's cuts to National Institutes of Health illegal
The federal judge said the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to DEI initiatives.
A federal judge in Boston said Monday the termination of National Institutes of Health grants for research on diversity-related topics by the Trump administration was “void and illegal” and accused the government of discriminating against racial minorities and LGBTQ people.
U.S. District Judge William Young said during a nonjury trial that the NIH violated federal law by arbitrarily canceling more than $1 billion in research grants because of their perceived connection to diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
https://www.nbcnews.com/science/science-news/judge-deems-trumps-cuts-national-institutes-health-illegal-rcna213360
93.NYC Comptroller Brad Lander arrested by ICE merely after calmly demanding to see a judicial warrant, which the agents did not produce, as they seized people at the courthouse. He has since been released, after the Governor of New York State and various others denounced it. (If anything it's helped rise him to the top of mayoral race in NYC. I was planning on ranking him anyhow.)
94. Last week, Colorado wildlife officials confirmed there are new wolf pups in the state! 🐾 This news comes just a year and a half after the historic reintroduction of wolves to Colorado and serves as a beacon of hope for their restoration in the state.
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/gray_wolves/index.html
[Honestly, the State of Colorado gets this week's award for the most good news items. Way to go Colorado. If you've never been? Go or try to visit at some point, it is a beautiful state with lots of contrasts. I was lucky enough to spend four years in college there - and traveled about the State as a teen in the 1980s.]
95.Rare Purple Californian Flowers Are Blooming More Than Ever
At Las Piletas Ranch Preserve in San Luis Obispo County, a surprising botanical discovery may alter the conservation future of a rare purple California wildflower. Researchers there uncovered a population explosion of the Camatta Canyon amole previously thought to exist in only two known locations, with an estimated 10,000 plants globally. The scientists identified more than 16,000 amoles just at Las Piletas, according to Scott Butterfield, a lead scientist for The Nature Conservancy’s land program in California, who helped with the discovery.
https://www.kqed.org/science/1997262/rare-purple-californian-flowers-are-blooming-more-than-ever
96.Judge rules some NIH grant cuts illegal, saying he’s never seen such discrimination in 40 years
WASHINGTON (AP) — A federal judge ruled Monday it was illegal for the Trump administration to cancel several hundred research grants, adding that the cuts raise serious questions about racial discrimination.
U.S. District Judge William Young in Massachusetts said the administration’s process was “arbitrary and capricious” and that it did not follow long-held government rules and standards when it abruptly canceled grants deemed to focus on gender identity or diversity, equity and inclusion.
97. American Bar Association Sues Trump Administration -A lawsuit by the lawyers group seeks to stop the president’s efforts to punish law firms.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/16/us/american-bar-association-sues-trump-administration.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare
98.The NAACP has filed an intent to sue Elon Musk’s artificial intelligence company over air pollution from a supercomputer data center in Memphis.
https://apnews.com/article/memphis-xai-elon-musk-pollution-naacp-571c16950259b382f9eae61bd59260ef
Okay, I found 98 items. And I'm tired.
[I feel at times that reading through the news is akin to watching a television serial with a really annoying villain, and I keep thinking, come on writers, kill it already. But alas no, they kill off the characters I like instead. I want new writers. That said, it's not all doom and gloom, there's spots of good news in there - actually more good than bad if you know where to look - and depending on your perspective. I've been watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer - and it's not only weirdly comforting for a horror series, but also made me a bit hopeful and optimistic.]
Good night and Good Luck all.
I'd cough you to sleep, but I think that would be a tad discomforting? So here's a photo of a flower instead: